Most of us are content to dream of flying in space, but Steve Bennett... in the best tradition of indomitable British eccentrics... is building his own rockets. Stragbasher is hoping to hitch a ride on his prize winning attempt...

In the late '60s and early '70s I was amongst the millions of British kids thrilled by the TV antics of Thunderbirds, Gerry Anderson's heroic space-faring puppets. The stirring music, action, adventure and futuristic technology filled me, like many others, with dreams of the 21st century.

I was too young at the time to know that Black Knight, Britain's rocket program, had been shelved shortly after launching it's first satellite. I was unaware of the wrangling at NASA, all I knew as I grew older was that the dreams faded and space flight became just another of those things reserved for the very few.

Less then ten miles from my childhood home another kid was equally enthralled by the rocket-borne marionettes but, unlike me, he never grew up. Steve Bennett still believes that he will have his adventure in space, and if no-one is going to build him a rocket he'll just
have to build his own. He's probably crazy, but he's sincere and you've got to hand it to the guy – he does make things happen!

Since 1993 he's launched 10 rockets (Well, to be honest, he's launched 9 - one crashed and burned in Devon a few years back! No one said this was easy!), and the next one lifts off on the 8th June from Morecambe Bay in Northern England. This flight, Starchaser3a2, is intended to prove the stage separation technology vital to fulfil Steve's medium term objective – winning the X-prize for Britain.

The X-prize is modelled on the early aviation prizes that stimulated the development of commercial flying in the last century. Based in St Louis, (remember Charles
Lindbergh?) 'The X-Prize Foundation' is offering $10,000,000 to the first wholly private company to successfully carry three people on a sub-orbital flight (over 100kms high) and repeat the feat within a week. Steve Bennett's Starchaser Industries Ltd, is ranked
joint no1 favourite with its Thunderbird re-usable spacecraft, named in honour of the project's inspiration.

Visiting the X-prize's website I was struck by the number, and variety, of the contenders.There are plenty of exciting proposals for different ways of getting into space, plenty of beautiful 'artists impressions', and the Starchaser team appears a little amateurish, working out of Salford University's basement. But following the links to the homepages of the different projects I also noticed another small detail: Only Starchaser actually launches rockets!

So can this university lecturer, working in his spare time with his students, actually deliver the goods before the big money dreamers? Ask the man and the answer is an emphatic
'Yes, we have a track record of success, and we're working at this one step at a time. Our proposals are workable, affordable and eminently do-able.'

But stop to think about it and there are one or two small barriers the starchasers have to overcome: The airspace limitations in the UK,
for instance. Starchaser3a2 could easily reach 130,000 feet but is prevented from passing one sixth of that height by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) And then there's funding, of course. 'Low-cost' for a rocketman is 'hideously expensive' to the rest of us, and
Starchaser is facing an uphill battle as the scale of it's activities increases. Sponsorship money is in short supply, and the company's attempts to cash in on it's activities are being thwarted by that other small barrier... good old British reserve.

Despite international demand for Starchaser 'goodies' the company has been unable to sell T-shirts, posters, or membership of it's supporter's club because no British Bank will entertain their request for online credit card processing – and who in, the USA for instance,
is going to go to the trouble of obtaining a cheque (or a check) in UK currency to order their merchandise? This is a real pity because, without a simple way of obtaining payment, Starchaser is unable to cash in on it's other great innovation – the 'Astronaut Wanted' program. One seat on the first flight of Thunderbird can be won, by anyone: you, me, or one of the few people who have already entered the competition. All you have to do is answer one question and send your £1 entry fee to Starchaser. You can enter as many times as you like, and the first correct answer drawn in May 2003 will win a sub-orbital flight aboard Thunderbird.

Me? I'm going to volunteer to pilot the second one, after someone else has proved it safe, but if you want to enter the question is:
'Who was the first person to walk on the moon?'

(Neil Armstrong) and details of how to enter can be found at Starchaser's official website.

So what does the immediate future hold for Starchaser? A move to the USA seems likely, for one. The Discovery channel is one of four TV companies currently making documentaries about Starchaser and the exposure, coupled with the greater availability of sponsorship money, makes it more likely that the project could raise funds across the pond. Banks are a little more helpful too. I visited Wells Fargo on behalf of Starchaser last week, and the branch manager replied, immediately:
'Well, we want your business.'

A lesson to be learned there by Barclays, methinks.

Further launches are scheduled, most intriguingly of all a prototype crew capsule called Nova to be launched several miles into the sky carrying one person. Apart from the genuine research value of Nova a test launch would probably generate huge publicity and turn
into the same kind of media circus as Evel Kneivel's Skycycle was in the 1970s.

And wouldn’t it be fun!?!?

Whatever the future brings, I’m sure that everyone at h2g2 wishes Starchaser the best. And if we're not the first into space (yes, I joined) I'm also sure we won't be the last.

Note: If you can help, or want to get involved, contact [email protected] (UK) or
[email protected] ... FFI on Starchaser in the USA
click here.

Stragbasher

founder, H2G2 Interplanetary Society

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